Taking a vacation to open your mind and discovering yourself seems to be the lifestyle theme nowadays. Whether it was Julia Roberts in ‘Eat Pray Love’, or Hrithik Roshan in the more recent ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’, the bottomline seems to be – take vacation, let yourself go and find stronger, newer YOU.

So is this just the movies talking? Or is there any validity to this theory of taking vacation for your personal development? And most importantly, does this apply to you?

Personal development ranges anywhere from improving your looks through advice and tools, to facing your fears. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, right? But what exactly does that mean?

Do you really have to go for liposuction just because you’ve tried your best to lose weight, and those last few pounds simply won’t budge?

Or, do you really have to go skydiving to beat the fear you’re going to die someday?

I think not.

You don’t have to take such drastic measures just to feel alive, or simply to show who you really are to the world. There are other ways to do so.

I mean, liposuction can give you a temporary svelte look, but if you’re not careful with your lifestyle habits, you’ll simply end up putting back all those pounds you had lost. And as for skydiving is concerned, go for it if you’re an adrenaline junkie, or you want a thrill of a lifetime. Given the fatality rates of such extreme sports, you shouldn’t really “try” skydiving just because you want to see how far you can push yourself.

So if you are indeed stuck in a rut, how can you get out of it? My answer – take vacation. No, not a let-yourself-go type of vacation where you’re constantly pushing yourself to the limits. Instead, try a vacation doing something you love but never seem to have any time to do so.

Like, if you’re a wine lover, try wine tasting tours in the countryside. You love nature – go for a jungle tour. The whole point of a vacation is to indulge yourself in perks and activities you can’t normally indulge in daily life. And when you’re back from your vacation, you’re rejuvenated, as good as new! Ready to face the world. And that’s your personal development right there!

You’re already swamped with survival struggles every day, whether it’s surviving another budget meeting, or securing a parking space right next to the entrance of your building. So take vacation to get out of the rut. It’ll only do you good.

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